U.S. Chamber – Legal Reform Summit – Washington, DC

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform holds its 9th Annual Legal Reform Summit Oct. 29, 2008.

This year’s summit will cover a variety of timely topics, including:

  • The Congressional landscape for legal reform post-election;
  • The public’s stake in preserving pre-dispute arbitration provisions in contracts;
  • Parameters of federal preemption;
  • The challenge of discovery abuse in federal and state court;
  • Foreign activities of the U.S. plaintiffs’ bar; and,
  • The role of criminal law in promoting compliance and rational enforcement.

The Hon. Carlos M. Gutierrez, United States Secretary of Commerce, will deliver the morning keynote address on the U.S. legal environment’s impact on foreign investment. Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will deliver the luncheon keynote address on the future of legal reform.

Three new pieces of research will be released at the summit, including:

  • A whitepaper on the proper role of criminal law as it relates to corporate conduct authored by former Enron prosecutor Andrew Weissmann;
  • The findings of ILR’s discovery survey;
  • A practitioner’s handbook on federal preemption.